Goes for Gemade’s jugular in Benue
Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State has finally opened up on his bid to take the Senate seat presently occupied by Senator Barnabas Gemade. The outgoing governor’s bid for Gemade’s political jugular is bound to excite the political firmament in the region.

BY PETER DURU
GOvernor Gabriel Suswam was modest in staking his bid for the Benue North East senatorial seat last Thursday at the palace of the Ter Kwande, Chief Hilary Ikima in Adikpo, Kwande local council of the state.

Gov Suswam

The governor led his retinue of supporters from across the state including the three paramount rulers of the Sankera political bloc where he comes from to lobby the two paramount rulers of Ushongo and Kwande local councils where the PDP supposedly zoned the position to, asking that the seat be ceded to him.

Addressing the gathering on the purpose of their visit, the Ter Katsina-Ala, Chief Fezanga Wombo, who spoke on behalf of the governor’s delegation, said they were in the palace of the Ter Kwande to intimate them of Suswam’s intention to contest the 2015 senatorial election.

He said the delegation was making the request, knowing full well that it was the turn of the people of Kwande and Ushongo to produce the next senator from the zone.

The royal father maintained that it was not lost on anyone that the senatorial seat had been with the people of Komshisha who were completing their eight-year tenure after Senator Joseph Akagerger did the initial four years while Senator Gemade who is doing his first tenure is rounding up the supposed eight years allotted to the zone.

”We know that the senatorial seat in the forthcoming 2015 election has been zoned to Kwande/Ushongo axis, but we of the Sankera bloc have come to ask that you loan us the slot to allow Governor Suswam run for the seat.

”We know that it is in the nature of the Tiv people to loan positions when the need arises in the collective interest of the people and that is why we have led our worthy son, the Governor of our state, who has indicated interest in the position to seek your cooperation and assistance in this matter. We have not come to cajole you, we are only making a plea which will also be compensated and rewarded accordingly,” the paramount ruler said.

Responding, the Ter Kwande stated that the request of the delegation was not out of place in the political history of the Tiv race. Chief Ikima noted that none of the sons or daughters of the area had indicated interest in the race, stressing that the request was timely. “Since none of our subjects has indicated interest to contest the seat and given that Governor Suswam is the first to ask for it we will loan the seat to Sankera. ”Suswam had done well as a Governor and it is incumbent on us to support and encourage him to do more for the people by loaning the seat to him to enable him achieve his senatorial ambition.”

Also speaking, the Ter Ushongo, Chief Ambrose Iortyer, who concurred with the position added that the people would rally round the governor to enable him realise his dream.
”We are all on the same page with the Ter Kwande and we also believe that it will serve our interest the more if we loan the seat to Governor Suswam,” he stressed.

Elder brother of the governor, Chief Terkura Suswam, in his response said what the paramount rulers and their subjects did was in consonance with the ancient practices of the Tiv people. “This is the epitome of the culture which has been exemplified in what has happened here; this is like a religion of the Tiv people. What the paramount rulers did was not new to us right from the origin of the Tiv race. What they did was nothing but a sign of the appreciation of the performance of the governor for close to eight years.

”Of course you know that the Tiv people have what they call ‘Ya na an gbia’ meaning eat and give your brother. So, we have blocs within this zone; we have the Sankera, Jachira and Kwande zones in this senatorial district, which are entitled to the position. If you look at the distribution of this position over the years, the Sankera people have had it up to three times and the Jachira has had its own with Kwande.

”Ideally, looking at the number of times that the political zones have had it, Kwande and Ushongo have had the least. Therefore, under normal circumstances, we ought to give it to them without any contention.

”We know that the senate seat in the district does not belong to the Sankera bloc but to the Kwande people. But the Tiv people, in their culture, when you desire something that does not belong to you, you must go and beg for it. That is why, as an entity we of the Sankera bloc have come to beg our brothers from Kwande and Ushongo for a loan, which they have unanimously given us and have also invoked the spirits of our forefathers to be witnesses to what transpired. That is why they washed the face and feet of the governor for that purpose,” Chief Suswam stated.

With the decision of the people of Ushongo and Kwande to loan the seat to Suswam, the coming days and months will certainly witness the mother of all battles between the governor and Senator Gemade who has not hidden his interest to return to the Senate in 2015.

Recently, Senator Gemade said he was entitled to a second term in the senate haven done just a single term.
”I am going back to the Senate because I am doing my first term and entitled to a second shot at the position. The fact is that I am not deterred by the antics of my opponents because I know that the people are with me,” he said.

It would also be noted that all these interplay has been accepted by the ruling PDP while the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to decide on where it would zone the senatorial seat.
Some pundits who are not in support of Governor Suswam’s ambition are questioning why the monarch is loaning the seat to Sankera after Prof Daniel Saror of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, also from the same Sankera axis as Suswam held the seat for eight years from 1999 to 2007.